Penal sanctions, 2001

43 per cent of the crime cases applied to narcotics crimes and 86 per cent applied to misdemeanours against the road traffic act.

Prison sentences increased

A total of 16 per cent more sanctions were registered in 2001 than in 2000. Conditional imprisonment combined with fines increased by 50 per cent, conditional imprisonment by 39 per cent, unconditional imprisonment combined with conditional imprisonment by 26 per cent and unconditional imprisonment by 14 per cent..

The large increase may be related to faster court procedures. An amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act in 2000 resulted in that a criminal case with more than one person charged - to a greater extent than before may be dealt with separately for each of the persons. .

but nine out of ten were fined

The total fines made up more than 90 per cent of the sanctions in 2001. The most frequent type was on the spot fine which constituted two thirds, 149 000 for traffic misdemeanours and 9 900 for misdemeanours against the Duty Act.57 000 were ticket fines, nearly a fourth of the sanctions. Of the remaining sanctions divided of 21 000 sentences to imprisonment, 10 600 were unconditional, 2 070,sentences to pay a fine, 770 sentences to community service and 27 sentences to security detention. In 200 cases the prosecution was conditionally dropped.

Increase of narcotics crimes

In 2001 43 per cent of the crime cases applied to narcotics, a larger portion than in any previous year. An additional 10 per cent included crime of narcotics in addition to another more serious crime.

Amount of fine and term of imprisonment

Total fines constituted on average NOK 2 559, businesses not included. On the spot fines constituted on average NOK 1 710 and ticket fines and fine sentences constituted on average NOK 4 380 and NOK 5 662 respectively.

Unconditional imprisonment sentences were on average 150 days. When unconditional imprisonment sentences are combined with conditional imprisonment, the unconditional portion constituted on average 85 days and the conditional 111 days. Conditional imprisonment sentences combined with fine constituted an average of 31 days and conditional imprisonment 68 days.

18 per cent of the sanctions in 2001 applied to women, an insignificant increase from the previous year, but during the previous four years an increase of one percentage point. The portion of women is higher in misdemeanour cases than in crime cases, 19 and 15 per cent respectively

Average age for convicted women was 37 years, nearly one year older than for men.

More young criminals

Criminal activities vary with age but most are found in the age group 18-20, 132 sanctions per 1 000 population. In the age group 21-24 the portion was 118 sanctions per 1 000, in the group 30-39, it was 90 and in the group 40 years and older, 43. Persons in the age group 15-17 incurred 45 sanctions per 1 000 population, and this age group had 50 per cent more sanctions per 1 000 population in 2001 than four years before. For the age group 18-20 the increase was 34 per cent

Tables:

• Table 1 Sanctions, by type of principal offence. 1997-2001
• Table 2 Sanctions, by type of sanction and type of principal offence. 2001
• Table 3 Sanctions, by group of offence and sex and age of the person. 2001